Clifton College Website

Modern Languages

"Multilingualism...is better for individuals - for their sense of self and their openness to the world, for opportunities for economic and personal growth. At this time of great fear and dangers in the world, it is better for humanity in its vital quest for peace, stability and enrichment. Only through multilingualism can we really understand and appreciate the stranger."
King, L., Johnstone, R. An agenda for languages.

The ability to understand and communicate in other languages is increasingly important in our society and in the global economy. Languages are a lifelong skill – to be used in business and for pleasure.

Head of Languages
Mr Llewelin Siddons MA
Heads of Departments
French:	Miss Caroline Bloor BA
German:	Mr Owen Lewis MA
Spanish:	Miss Michelle Harris BA
Mandarin:	Ms Emma Cordwell BA CELTA
Russian:	Mr Simon Heard BA

The aim of the Modern Languages Department at Clifton College is to develop the linguistic ability and cultural awareness of all our pupils irrespective of their country of origin.

The main languages offered are French, German, Spanish and Mandarin. Italian and Russian can be studied in the Sixth Form.

Teaching

When entering the Upper School in Year 9, almost all pupils study two modern languages. Many of our pupils come from Clifton College Preparatory School ('the Pre'), where they start French at an early age and then take two languages, chosen from French, German, Spanish and Mandarin, from Year 7. Most therefore continue with the two languages started in the Pre.

For other pupils and those entering from outside, there are beginners’ sets in German, Mandarin and Spanish from Year 9.

Pupils must normally take at least one modern language at GCSE. All the above languages can be taken to GCSE, AS Level and A2 Level.

The Sixth Form

"94% of the world's population have a language other than English as their first language, and 75% of the world's population do not speak English at all."
CILT, The National Centre for Languages

Clifton has an excellent record in Languages A levels, with candidates sitting the AQA exams in most languages. For details of these courses, see the individual language pages. Alongside the main A level courses, Clifton offers complementary courses in Italian and Russian. This is an excellent opportunity to learn a new language from scratch and aim for a GCSE.

Exchanges

The department currently runs trips to give students a chance to practise their languages intensively and to experience life in the countries where their languages are spoken. Please see the pages for individual languages.

Sixth Form Language Fest, September 2006

Events

The department also puts on a number of evening events for students, including the following recent events – not including events for specific languages:

Language Festivals and Poetry Evenings, to enable students of a particular year group to perform sketches in front of a small audience;
A Languages Café to celebrate the languages and culture of all the different nationalities represented at Clifton;
Modern Languages Film Club evenings.
Debates in French, German and Spanish with other schools.

Recent Modern Languages Successes

2011
Sophie Reece-Trapp, OC, is awarded a first class degree at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
James Heaven wins the first Nigel Jones Cup for public speaking in a Modern Language.
Isabel Murphy and Oliver Gittings score a maximum 300 marks in GCSE French and Spanish respectively.

2010
Freddie Kalfayan scores a maximum 360 marks in Spanish GCSE.

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